Photography: John Force Racing / Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (March 9, 2025) – At the end of a rain-plagued 56th annual NHRA Gatornationals in which neither of the three John Force Racing drivers advanced beyond the second round, the mood was surprisingly upbeat Sunday as the team packed up for a trip back to its Brownsburg, Ind., shop prior to races in Phoenix, Ariz., and Pomona, Calif.
“Rough weekend to start the year,” admitted reigning Mission Foods Funny Car World Champion Austin Prock after losing a first-round duel with Bob Tasca III. “The rear end blowing up (on the first qualifying run) really just put us behind the eight ball along with Mother Nature not being on our side.
“We were all confident going up there this morning and figured we could make a nice run and get it down (the track),” he said. “Honestly, I thought (that) even if Tasca and I both smoked the tires, we would be able to get the job done but, when it spun the tires, it disconnected the throttle and then the safety system got it (slowing the usually potent Cornwell Tools Chevy to a pedestrian 13.050 seconds at just 56.62 miles per hour).
“Not the outing we wanted, but I know there’s performance in this Prock Rocket,” said the 2019 tour Rookie of the Year. “I’m looking forward to going back to the shop and regrouping and going for a win in Phoenix.”
Jack Beckman, who started from the No. 1 position for the first time since taking over the seat of Force’s PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS last August, was the only JFR driver to survive the first round but even he was bounced in the second by four-time former World Champ Matt Hagan.
“It was an odd weekend,” said the two-time World Champion. “And it’s one of the ones JFR is not going to look back on fondly, but the silver lining is we got a lot of good data. We got to test Wednesday, we were No. 1 qualifier both sessions, we maxed out the qualifying points and we got a round win on what was an incredibly tricky racetrack.
“Without lane choice second round, it was almost like going up there with a strike-and-a- half against us,” he said. “But that’s alright. We will persevere. We know that we have great data for the upcoming races, and I can’t wait to roll into Phoenix because our first win and John Force Racing’s 300th Funny Car win is going to come soon.”
Brittany Force, who was similarly optimistic after an impressive pre-Gatornationals test, echoed the sentiments of her teammates after losing to Tony Stewart in the first round when her Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster lost traction at the first hit of the throttle. She was ahead at 60 feet, but little went right after that.
“Overall, it’s not the way our Monster team wanted to start the season,” acknowledged the two-time Top Fuel World Champ. “But we still have a lot of races ahead of us. This David Grubnic/John Collins-run team is going to be strong this season. Our performance has shown to have picked up where we left off last season and this new crew works really well together.
“We were all very proud to run 302.69 mph to the 1/8th mile during testing (the fastest speed ever at that distance), but after only two qualifying runs we ended up sixth (in the Gatornationals qualifying order). We may have overcompensated (in the first round) because we were afraid it might shake and, unfortunately, we smoked early.
“But we know where the mistakes were made and will use it to learn and move forward,” she said. “We have a good team and a good racecar and I’m excited to see what we can accomplish in Phoenix.”
The team’s namesake, still under treatment for the Traumatic Brain Injury he suffered last June in Richmond, Va., but back on tour to support his teams and corporate partners PEAK, Cornwell, Chevrolet, Monster Energy and HendrickCars.com, was similarly optimistic.
“Our cars qualified okay,” said the 157-time NHRA tour winner. “We didn’t get very many rounds, but I was excited just to be here and I know we’ve got some great teams.”
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GAINESVILLE, Fla. (March 9, 2025) – At the end of a rain-plagued 56th annual NHRA Gatornationals in which neither of the three John Force Racing drivers advanced beyond the second round, the mood was surprisingly upbeat Sunday as the team packed up for a trip back to its Brownsburg, Ind., shop prior to races in Phoenix, Ariz., and Pomona, Calif.
“Rough weekend to start the year,” admitted reigning Mission Foods Funny Car World Champion Austin Prock after losing a first-round duel with Bob Tasca III. “The rear end blowing up (on the first qualifying run) really just put us behind the eight ball along with Mother Nature not being on our side.
“We were all confident going up there this morning and figured we could make a nice run and get it down (the track),” he said. “Honestly, I thought (that) even if Tasca and I both smoked the tires, we would be able to get the job done but, when it spun the tires, it disconnected the throttle and then the safety system got it (slowing the usually potent Cornwell Tools Chevy to a pedestrian 13.050 seconds at just 56.62 miles per hour).
“Not the outing we wanted, but I know there’s performance in this Prock Rocket,” said the 2019 tour Rookie of the Year. “I’m looking forward to going back to the shop and regrouping and going for a win in Phoenix.”
Jack Beckman, who started from the No. 1 position for the first time since taking over the seat of Force’s PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS last August, was the only JFR driver to survive the first round but even he was bounced in the second by four-time former World Champ Matt Hagan.
“It was an odd weekend,” said the two-time World Champion. “And it’s one of the ones JFR is not going to look back on fondly, but the silver lining is we got a lot of good data. We got to test Wednesday, we were No. 1 qualifier both sessions, we maxed out the qualifying points and we got a round win on what was an incredibly tricky racetrack.
“Without lane choice second round, it was almost like going up there with a strike-and-a- half against us,” he said. “But that’s alright. We will persevere. We know that we have great data for the upcoming races, and I can’t wait to roll into Phoenix because our first win and John Force Racing’s 300th Funny Car win is going to come soon.”
Brittany Force, who was similarly optimistic after an impressive pre-Gatornationals test, echoed the sentiments of her teammates after losing to Tony Stewart in the first round when her Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster lost traction at the first hit of the throttle. She was ahead at 60 feet, but little went right after that.
“Overall, it’s not the way our Monster team wanted to start the season,” acknowledged the two-time Top Fuel World Champ. “But we still have a lot of races ahead of us. This David Grubnic/John Collins-run team is going to be strong this season. Our performance has shown to have picked up where we left off last season and this new crew works really well together.
“We were all very proud to run 302.69 mph to the 1/8th mile during testing (the fastest speed ever at that distance), but after only two qualifying runs we ended up sixth (in the Gatornationals qualifying order). We may have overcompensated (in the first round) because we were afraid it might shake and, unfortunately, we smoked early.
“But we know where the mistakes were made and will use it to learn and move forward,” she said. “We have a good team and a good racecar and I’m excited to see what we can accomplish in Phoenix.”
The team’s namesake, still under treatment for the Traumatic Brain Injury he suffered last June in Richmond, Va., but back on tour to support his teams and corporate partners PEAK, Cornwell, Chevrolet, Monster Energy and HendrickCars.com, was similarly optimistic.
“Our cars qualified okay,” said the 157-time NHRA tour winner. “We didn’t get very many rounds, but I was excited just to be here and I know we’ve got some great teams.”
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